FIA President, Mohammed ben Sulayemopened a period to study “proposals of interest” from teams to enter Formula 1. In response, Andretti announced his collaboration with Cadillac (General Motors) as a team project to enter the ‘Great Circus’.
Most of the fans were in favor of the American alliance, but there was also an opposite side to the arrival of Andretti, mainly from teams that are already in Formula 1.
To date, only Alpine and McLaren They have been openly in favor of the arrival of Andretti. They did it even before the announcement of the collaboration with Cadillac, but the rest of the teams are against his arrival.
The inclusion of an eleventh team (or a twelfth) would reduce the income of the teams by spreading the commercial rights among more, something that would mainly affect the smaller teams. Hence the position against teams like Haas.
Despite the fact that since Andretti’s announcement there has not been any statement against his arrival in Formula 1 or any existing team, Ben Sulayem has once again come out to defend the Americans, probably because he is aware of positions in against its arrival internally.
“It is surprising that there has been such an adverse reaction to the news of Cadillac and Andretti.. The FIA has accepted the entry of smaller, successful organizations in recent years. We should be encouraging potential entries from global manufacturers like General Motors and from thoroughbred entrants like Andretti and others. Team interest in growth markets adds diversity and broadens the appeal of F1“, published the president of the FIA.
The FIA has the power to accept or reject proposals to enter its competitions, as is the case with Formula 1. However, the new team has to reach an agreement with the promoter (in this case Liberty Media) on the rights commercial. And these are already negotiated with the existing teams until 2026.
The constant communications from Ben Sulayem (hence, the FIA) contrast with the silence of Liberty Media. What seems clearer is that Andretti’s proposal has generated a war between the FIA and Formula 1.
